by Ruth Griffiths

Spring is in the air. The days are longer; the sun is brighter; my friends have seen or heard Canada geese flying overhead.
But that perennial sign of spring, the CFUW used book sale, will not be making an appearance this spring. Again!

But hang onto your hats … and your books… there might, might, might be a book sale in the fall, SHA willing and the creek don’t rise.

Each spring and fall CFUW Prince Albert offers used books in a space provided by South Hill Mall. The books have all been donated so there isn’t any fixed price for the books. You pick out as many books as you want and pay what you wish. Proceeds of the sale finance seven scholarships for local female students. Customers have been extremely generous over the years, allowing the club to double the amount given to the graduates.

Because of the pandemic, both book sales were cancelled last year. The club will not be holding a used book sale this spring but hopes to hold a book sale in October.

The club did not want to expose its volunteers or its customers to unnecessary risks. For many of us, books are an essential item, but a used book sale is not.

On the other hand, many people have used their time during lockdown to purge their homes. Now they have boxes of books just waiting to be donated to a good cause. Hopefully, those people can hold onto their books just a few more months until they can be brought to the sale.

Some people are moving and can’t wait until the fall to donate their books. If you are unable to wait you can drop off books at the main front door at SHARE, 1750 Sixth Avenue West.

But please, only do this is there are no other options because we don’t want to burden our good friends at SHARE.

I have very much enjoyed being a part of the CFUW book sales. I always look forward to meeting people, welcoming their book donations and sharing in the pleasure of buying a new book treasure. Maybe this year, all that excitement will have to be from behind a face mask. But oh, what a wonderful time we will have.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

by Ruth Griffiths

Many of the people in my adult fitness class have been attending faithfully for more than a decade. It’s become a healthy habit for them to start the day with group exercise.

But then came COVID.

The restrictions imposed on us to help fight the spread of the new Corona virus have drastically reduced opportunities for group fitness. We must wear a mask, remain three metres apart and reduce the number of people in the class.

Some people have chosen not to go to the gym or to fitness classes until there is less risk. I understand that completely. Although keeping fit helps to reduce our risk of getting sick, many of us have conditions that make us more likely to become more severely ill if we develop COVID-19. In those cases, self-isolation is the most effective way to avoid hospitalization.

But sometimes, even in non-pandemic situations, our routine changes and we find it difficult to maintain our fitness program. It’s hard to get back on track. The National Institute on Aging offers these tips for overcoming roadblocks to fitness for older adults:

1. You’re away from home — When you visit friends and relatives bring along your exercise clothing or equipment (resistance band, bathing suit or walking shoes). Get out and see the sights on foot rather than sitting in a car.
   
2. Caring for a relative keeps you at home — Work out to an exercise video. Ask a family member or friend to come over so you can go for a walk.
   
3. Your usual exercise buddy moves away — Invite another friend to go with you on your daily walk. Ask other older adults in your area where they go for walks or what physical activity resources are available nearby. Joining an exercise class is a great way to meet other active people.
   
4. You move to a new community — Look for activities that match your interests and abilities. In Prince Albert, check the website citypa.ca and search for PA Together At Home for free workout videos and listings of current fitness opportunities.
   
5. Sickness kept you out of action for a few weeks — Wait until you feel better and then start your activity again. Go slow. Build your fitness level in baby steps.
   
6. You are recovering from surgery — Talk with your doctor about specific exercises and activities you can do safely when you’re feeling better. Start slowly and gradually build up your activities as you become stronger.
   
   The best thing about working out is that it gives you energy for more activities. When it becomes a habit, you’ll never want to give it up.

by Ruth Griffiths

Monday is International Women’s Day. Each year around the world, International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8.

Prince Albert Council of Women will celebrate International Women’s Day, with Covid protocols, during a brief ceremony at City Hall. The photograph of this year’s Hall of Fame inductee will be hung on the wall on the second floor at City Hall along with the photos of those who previously received this honour.

A representative of Prince Albert Council of Women, Rose Rothenberger, told me in an e-mail, “Usually we have an induction ceremony with a banquet. However, this year because of Covid restrictions, we will not be able to have the celebration … hopefully we can hold it at a later date.”

Thousands of events usually occur throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.
In many countries it is a holiday with parades. However, the pandemic rages on and public gatherings are inadvisable.

The global UN Women theme for International Women’s Day 2021 is “Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. This theme celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future.

Prince Albert’s Women’s Hall of Fame is a great example of how women have provided leadership in our community. However, achieving an equal future for women and girls is an on-going challenge.

by Ruth Griffiths

On this day in 1942, Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced in the House of Commons that all Japanese Canadians living within 100 miles of the Pacific coast were to be removed inland to safeguard the defences of the Pacific Coast of Canada.

The following day, the Government started to evacuate 21,000 Japanese Canadians from coastal regions of British Columbia to interior work camps under the War Measures Act.

Canada had been at war since 1939, but the United States did not enter the Second World War until after the Japanese bombed the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order on Feb. 19, 1942 ordering the relocation of all Americans of Japanese ancestry to concentration camps in the interior of the United States.

Both in Canada and the United States there was no evidence that citizens of Japanese ancestry were a security risk.

It wasn’t the first time that Canada had locked up people not for what they had done but simply because of their ethnicity. During the First World War more than 8,000 Canadians were imprisoned for being “enemy aliens.”

Eight thousand people were falsely imprisoned and treated as prisoners of war in Canada: 5,000 Ukrainians, but also Serbians, Croatians, Armenians, Hungarians and Germans. They were detained in 24 internment camps along with prisoners of war. The government frequently employed internees on massive labour projects, including the development of Banff National Park and numerous mining and logging operations. They were paid 25 cents a day, much less than the going rate for labour.

Under the War Measures Act, immigrants from enemy countries (Germany, Austria- Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria) were required to register with the North West Mounted Police or the militia. About 80,000 people registered and then regularly presented their registration cards, each time paying $2 (about a day’s wages at the time) to cover the cost of the process.

Saskatchewan had one, short-lived, internment camp: the Eaton Camp, located at the junction of Highway 60 and the Canadian National Railway, four kilometers southwest of Saskatoon. The detainees arrived on Feb. 25, 1919, travelling from the camp at Munson, Alta., where they had worked on the railway. The war had already ended on Nov. 11, 1918. On March 21, 1919, they were moved to a military installation at Amherst, Nova Scotia and then deported.

On Oct. 28, 2014, to mark the 100 years since “enemy aliens” were required to register, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC-SPC) placed a plaque at the site of the Eaton Camp. The plaque portrays internees behind barbed wire at Castle Mountain Internment Camp in Banff.

In 1988, the Canadian government under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney delivered a formal apology and a multi-million dollar compensation package to Japanese-Canadians affected by WW2 internment. Surviving former internees received $21,000 each and those who were deported had their Canadian citizenship reinstated.

In November 2005, after a long, grassroots campaign by the Ukrainian community, Bill C-331 (The Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act) recognized the internment of Ukrainian Canadians during the First World War. It called for the federal government “to provide for public commemoration and for restitution which is to be devoted to education and the promotion of tolerance.”

The Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund was established in 2008. It manages commemorative and educational projects and represents all communities affected by the internment operations.

Read more on the website internmentcanda.ca

by Ruth Griffiths

Time and temperature are human constructs that we impose on nature. We experience time and temperature differently depending on our circumstances.

At this time of year we yearn for longer days, perhaps more than ever this year because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. For too many days our life has been limited by the cold and the dark. The clock and the thermometer rule supreme.

But on Feb. 7, with the windchill in the minus 50s, I heard a sparrow singing in a tree. How can it survive? It was having a different experience of the day than I was!

When the temperature dips to five in the fall, we pull on a warm jacket and gloves. But when the daytime high was zero in January, I saw a man wearing shorts at the grocery store! In fall, cold feels colder when we have become accustomed to the hot days of summer. Likewise, warm feels warmer when spring arrives.

How active we are also affects our experience of the temperature. If I am standing and waiting outdoors, I feel much colder than if I am engaged in an activity and moving around. For example, watching the sled dog races during Winter Festival doesn’t feel as cold as standing and waiting in line.

Our experience of time is related to the rotation of the earth and its orbit around the sun. We try to imposed order on time with the calendar and the clock.

We can tell time by the sun simply by looking at the shadows it casts. The sundial was the first clock. Egyptian astronomers developed several types of clocks to track star movements. The tomb of Amenhotep I (1525-1504 BC) contained a water clock.

The Romans divided the year into months. Months were divided into groups of days counted before certain named days: the Kalends at the beginning of the month, the Ides at the middle, and the Nones between them. This organization of the month would tell you when there was a market day and when debts were due.

But the clock and the calendar sometimes seem irrelevant. Last spring, during the lockdown, many people couldn’t remember what day it was, or even what month it was. March dragged out for at least 50 days it seemed.

When I am busy at many tasks the day seems to be too short. But when I am waiting on hold to talk to my cable provider… time stretches agonizingly to the horizon.

No matter how we try to organize time, the Earth keeps spinning round. We can measure temperature for any scale we want but it won’t stop Grandma and Grandpa from fighting over the thermostat.

It’s all relative.

by Ruth Griffiths

Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for centuries and might be the original “Hallmark Holiday” which requires the exchange of  greeting cards.  Test your knowledge of the traditions behind our Feb. 14 celebration of romantic love.

 1.    What is the origin of Valentine’s Day?

2.    Who wrote the poem “A Red, Red Rose”?

3. Part of the Valentine’s tradition comes from a Roman festival where boys and girls drew names out of a hat and got married. True or false?

4.    What fruit is also known as the “love apple”?

5.    In what century did Valentine’s cards become popular in Great Britain?

6.    Women buy approximately what percentage of Valentine’s cards? 50%, 70% or 85%?

7.    If you are quick to show your feelings of love you are said to wear your heart on your ––––––

8.    In which century were the Wars of The Roses fought?

9.    The word “love” as used in the scoring of tennis is thought to have originated from the French word for what type of food?

10.    How many times does the word “love” appear in the Bible? 3 times, 73 times or 733 times? 

ANSWERS

    1.    The origin of Valentine’s Day is uncertain. It was celebrated for years under different names as a fertility holiday long before it became St. Valentine’s holiday. There are three Saint Valentines, but Valentine’s Day most likely commemorates a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on Feb. 14, 269  AD. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”. 

    2.    Robert Burns

    3.    True

    4.    Tomato

    5.    17th

    6.    85%

    7.    Sleeve

    8.    15th

    9.    Egg (L’ouef)

10. 733

by Ruth Griffiths

Researchers at University of Saskatchewan report that during the first four months of the pandemic students ate more, exercised less and consumed a lot of alcohol. Many people I know also fell into those unhealthy behaviours during 2020. Now it is time to change for the better.

It’s all too easy to identify unhealthy habits. It’s a little harder to figure out why we continue those behaviours.

The New Year is a traditional time to resolve to make positive change. But this has definitely not been a normal year. Nevertheless, you may be trying to undo the negative effects of some of your maladaptive behaviours.

After you have made your plan to change a habit, you need to identify what triggers your behaviour. For smoking, for example, triggers might include waking up in the morning, having coffee, drinking alcohol, stressful meetings, driving, etc. Most habits have more than one trigger. Make a list of all the triggers you can think of, no matter how large or small.

For every trigger, identify a positive action that you are going to do instead. When you first wake in the morning, instead of smoking, what will you do? What about when you get stressed? When you watch TV? Some positive actions to deal with your triggers could include: exercise, meditation, deep breathing or organizing your day.

Identifying your triggers and planning a positive action will give you strategies to defeat the urge. Urges are going to come — they’re inevitable, and they’re strong. But they’re also temporary and beatable. Urges usually last about a minute or two, and they come in waves of varying strength. You just need to ride out the wave, and the urge will go away.

For example, if you are trying to stop snacking after supper, some strategies for making it through the urge are deep breathing, take a walk, exercise, drink a glass of water, call a support buddy.

You have identified the habit you wish to change and written down your plan. It includes the triggers for that habit and the behaviours you are going to substitute. Be very clear why you’re doing this. If you are not doing it for yourself, is this something you really want to do? The benefits of changing this habit need to be clear in your head. For example, a friend successfully lost over 20 pounds because she was going to have knee surgery. She knew her recovering time would be much shorter if she were carrying less weight on her new knee.

Write down all your obstacles. If you’ve tried this habit change before, you’ve likely failed. How did those failures stop you from succeeding? Write down your plan to overcome every obstacle you can think of. Be prepared by finding solutions to your obstacles before you encounter them.

Of course, don’t try to change everything at once. Choose one behaviour that can be improved and be patient. It takes at least six weeks to change a habit.

The pandemic has given many of us the gift of time. We can choose to use this time to identify and implement healthier habits.

by Ruth Griffiths

When the weather turns extreme it’s almost all we talk about. But how much do we know about the weather? Challenge yourself to answer these cold weather questions.

1. How cold can it get in Prince Albert?
   
2. On average, when is Prince Albert’s coldest day of the year?
   
3. On what day did Prince Albert record its largest daily snowfall?
   
4. On Aug. 20, 2010, the temperature in Antarctica dropped to the lowest recorded temperature in the world. How cold was it?
   
5. According to Statistics Canada, the coldest recorded temperature in Canada was on Feb. 3, 1947 in Snag, Yukon. How cold was it?
   
6. David Phillips, Senior climatologist at Environment Canada, says Canada is the second coldest country in the world, with an average year round temperature of -3.6 C. What country is colder?
   
7. The average nighttime low in Canada for December, January and February is -26.7 C. What area of Canada is the coldest?
   
8. What is the coldest inhabited place on earth?
   
9. How cold was the last Ice Age?
   
10. How cold can it get?

I put this quiz together seven years ago and updated it this month. It appears that we never grow tired of talking about the weather. Unless we’re talking about the pandemic!

** ed note: In a serendipitous turn of events, I’m editing this column on Monday, January 25. It was -40 C when I went outside to start my car this morning — a cold weather column on the coldest day of the year so far. It’ s not the coldest Jan. 25 on record, though, that mark belongs to 1969, when it reached -43.9 C. The average low for this late January deep freeze is -25 C. According to Environment Canada, the mercury plunged to -40.4 C, and -42 with the windchill. The ice fog didn’t help matters either!

ANSWERS

1. One source says -50 C on Jan. 20, 1943 while Wikipedia says -56.7 C on Feb. 1, 1893. (Highest temp June 5, 1988 38.8 C )
   
2. Jan. 10, with an average low of -23 C and high of -12 C.
   
3. Sunday, Oct. 11, 1998 saw 43 cm of snowfall. It was the Thanksgiving weekend.
   
4. -93.2 C, brrrr
   
5. -63 C is still the coldest temperature recorded in North America.
   
6. Russia has the honour of first place at -5.3 C.
   
7. Nunavut is the coldest territory in the winter, with an average daily temperature of -33.4 C, while Manitoba is the coldest winter province at -25.1 C. Nova Scotia is the warmest province, with a balmy average of -8.9 C.
   
8. Oymyakon in northeast Russia recorded -67.7 C on Feb. 6, 1933. This is the lowest temperature ever recorded in the northern hemisphere, and is the lowest temperature ever recorded for any permanent habitation (on Earth).
   
9. The average global temperature was 6 or 7 degrees colder than today’s average global temperature of 14 C.
   
10. The moon gets to -228 C. Mars is -153 C at the poles. The International Space Station’s sun-facing side heats to 121 C, while the dark side plunges to -157 C. Deep space is -270 C. Absolute zero, theoretically the coldest temperature possible, is -273.15 C.

by Ruth Griffiths

Today is the anniversary of the death of a Canadian icon — the Eaton’s catalogue.

Back when Prince Albert Daily Herald had more than 50 employees, the staff social club put on a Christmas party for the employee’s children.

The kids sat on the floor in the lunch room, ate hamburgers and watched films from the public library. The program always included the 1980 NFB short film The Sweater. In this animated short, Roch Carrier tells how he and his friends worshipped Maurice “Rocket” Richard and wore his number 9 Canadiens hockey jersey. The boy was mistakenly sent a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey from Eaton’s. Unable to convince his mother to send it back, he had to face ridicule wearing the blue jersey.

Besides our national love of hockey, the film illustrates the ubiquitous nature of the mail-order catalogue. The film contains the dialogue: “My mother was proud. She never wanted to buy our clothes from the General Store. The only styles that were good enough for us were from Eaton’s Catalogue.”

The widely distributed department store catalogue leveled the playing field for rural Canadians. Someone living in rural Canada could purchase from the catalogue and receive the same products as those living in the city.

The Eaton’s catalogue, first published in 1884, was one of the first to be distributed by a Canadian retail store. The first version of the catalogue was a 32-page booklet handed out at the Industrial Exhibition (now the Canadian National Exhibition). On Jan. 14, 1976 the T. Eaton Company ended its catalogue sales operation after over 10 years of heavy losses and 9,000 employees lost their jobs.

The Sears catalogue was another staple of rural Canadian culture. I especially remember circling items in the Christmas Wish Book. It was more efficient than a letter to Santa!

Simpson-Sears released the first Canadian Wish Book in 1953. At its peak in 1997, five million copies of the Wish Book were delivered to doorsteps across Canada. The tradition continued for 63 years, until the final edition in 2016.

The collapse of Sears Canada put thousands out of work.

This year I was surprised to receive a Canadian Tire Christmas catalogue. Especially when other retail giants, such as Ikea, have ended their print catalogue and moved entirely on-line. At its peak, the Ikea catalogue was said to have a greater circulation than the Bible. In December the Swedish furniture company announced that after seven decades it will no longer publish a catalogue because demand has fallen.

By the way, you can watch The Sweater on YouTube. It’s only 10 minutes long but it will bring back a lifetime of memories about hockey and the mail-order catalogue.